Broadcom announces yet another Android-friendly dual-core processor

Broadcom is giving Google a lot of love of late, with the announcement of its second Android-ready processor in as many months hitting us today. The new BCM28150 is a big step up from its predecessor (released in December), and sports a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 at 1.1GHz; an HSPA+ modem doing 21Mbps; and Broadcom's VideoCore IV VPU (vector processing unit). What's more, it touts 12-megapixel camera imaging, 3D video and gaming at 1080p, HDMI out, and the obligatory Bluetooth, WiFi, and GPS amenities. If the BCM28150 is your bag, Broadcom plans to demo the thing in Barcelona next week, but if a trip to Spain is too rich for your blood, you can always check out the PR after the jump (and keep it locked right here for our own MWC coverage, of course).

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced a new baseband processor for affordable and high performance smartphones. The new BCM28150 HSPA+ baseband integrates a Broadcom® Merlyn™ applications processor with the latest VideoCore® IV mobile multimedia/graphics technology. This new baseband offers customers one of the highest performance, smallest footprint size and lowest power smartphone solutions available for Android™ and other open operating systems.

The accompanying reference platform includes the 40 nanometer (40nm) BCM28150 HSPA+ system-on-a-chip (SoC) smartphone processer, the BCM2091 radio frequency IC, the BCM59056 advanced power management unit (PMU) with charger and audio support, and a full complement of Broadcom's world-class connectivity technologies. Broadcom will be demonstrating its new BCM28150 smartphone processor reference design at next week's 2011 Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, Spain, from February 14th through February 17th.

Highlights/Key Facts:

* The BCM28150 HSPA+ baseband processor integrates the Broadcom Merlyn applications processor technology, providing an optimal combination of high performance and low power applications and multimedia processing power for smartphones. Key features of the BCM28150 SoC include:

o An integrated HSPA+ release 8 category 14 modem that supports 21 Megabits per second (Mbps) of downstream connectivity, as well as Class 33 EDGE support for greater flexibility and worldwide roaming.

o Broadcom's industry-leading VideoCore IV with vector processing unit (VPU) offering a 'third processing core' for offloading MHz from the Cortex A9 cores, reducing power consumption while improving the Android user interface experience. VideoCore's high performance graphics engine supports powerful shaders and over 1Gpx/s fill rates and can render 3D mobile games natively at up to 1080p resolution at high frame rates which, in combination with a HDMI output, allows a console-quality gaming experience on large screen HDTVs.

* The BCM21850 baseband reference platform has been tailored to deliver the most advanced smartphone features along with built-in HSPA+ connectivity, enabled entirely with Broadcom silicon to ensure the highest level of integration and seamless functionality across its various components.

o Installed with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and support for popular audio and video codecs, including VP8 and Vorbis audio for support of HTML5.